At the end of July, our Urban Ranger, Debbie, led a Potato Harvest at Withington Fire Station. The harvest was organised in collaboration with Ambition for Ageing and Old Moat Greenies, and was one of the many recent Social Eating events we’ve hosted over the previous months.
For the harvest, children from St. Cuthbert’s Primary School joined with members of Ambition for Ageing, to dig and wash vegetables from the Fire Station’s community garden. After some instructions and a safety talk from Debbie, everyone got stuck in with digging up potatoes and carrots (bravely avoiding a worm or two), before taking them for washing. All the children worked well with one another and the adults supporting them, sharing the duties of digging and washing evenly.
Meanwhile, staff from Southway were busy preparing potatoes for everyone to eat. The cooked potatoes had been harvested by Debbie earlier that morning and would be accompanied with fresh herbs, also grown in the community garden.
Once the harvest was over, the children and adults tidied up, before each tucking in to a well-earned plate of delicious and healthy potatoes. The potatoes went down a treat, even receiving praise from Jeff Smith, MP, who had stopped by the Fire Station to see the group’s hard work.
As the morning came to a close, everyone was given a bag of the freshly harvested potatoes to take home and enjoy with their families. The children from St. Cuthbert’s had a fantastic time, with many commenting that they would be excited to grow more foods in the future.
Reflecting on the day, teacher Ryan Knowles commented:
The kids have loved it. It’s great to see them take ownership of things like this. I hope that this will encourage them to get excited about growing their own food and eating healthily at home.
Ryan Knowles, teacher at St. Cuthbert's
The Potato Harvest was a great success, and it was fantastic to see how excited the students were to learn about growing food, in addition to the friendships they made with members of the Ambition for Ageing Team. Events like these are a testament to the power of social eating, and how it can bring people from all generations together.
We run many different social eating events across the year; if you would like to get involved, keep an eye on our events calendar and social media for updates!
For more information on the work of our Urban Rangers, click here.